Gospel of Prosperity

Dennis Leonard built Heritage Christian Center into a flourishing multiracial church by connecting with hurting people.

From the pulpit, the preacher mined his past life, one of frequenting nightclubs and recovering from divorce. Members volunteered at a church food bank and fed the homeless. The choir was top-notch.

Leonard also preached a gospel of prosperity — suggesting a bountiful return for those who gave generously to the church — that has been criticized for preying on the vulnerable.

Then he walked away, retiring in 2010 and moving to California.

Leonard, 64, is about to embark on a second act in Colorado, announcing plans to open a Heritage Christian Center in Aurora with a 1,500-seat sanctuary in a former sporting-goods store the church bought.

"I want you to know we are coming back for you," Leonard said during a Friday night guest appearance at Calvary Temple in Denver attended by many of his former members. "God has heard your prayers, and we are coming back."

After his retirement announcement, Leonard began another Heritage Christian Center in National City, Calif., near San Diego. He said he will split time between that congregation and the Aurora campus, which is set to open this summer.

The stories examined prosperity theology, Leonard's use of a church-owned jet and financial arrangements that benefited his relatives, including commissions earned from a housing nonprofit group affiliated with the church. At the time, the church said all donations were spent responsibly and that it followed the rules.

Leonard on Friday described that transition as a passing of the torch to a younger man — the Rev. Chris Hill, a Jakes protégé who Leonard said is "doing a tremendous job."

Hill emphasized this week that Potter's House of Denver is a new entity with a different governing body than Heritage. The Denver Potter's House is also independent from the Dallas church.

Hill said that since taking over the 3,500-seat auditorium where Leonard once preached, attendance has grown from 2,500 to about 7,000, and membership is younger and more diverse.

"The vast preponderance of our people now have no connection or even knowledge of Heritage Christian Center," he said.

Hill said he has not spoken with Leonard about his return.

"There are more than enough Christians for us to exist together, and we welcome any church that would come to serve the community, to preach hope and to bring light," he said.

Arapahoe County Assessor's records show Heritage Christian Center Inc. bought a 4.6-acre parcel at 14401 E. Exposition Ave. in Aurora for about $2.4 million in October. The 55,000-square-foot building, which formerly housed a Sports Authority store, is near the site of the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.

In San Diego, Leonard's plans to split time between two congregations is not pleasing everyone, said Quentin Redman, a former elder there who left in part because he opposed the plan.

"People here are basically ticked because they felt like they have been used as a steppingstone to finance his organization to go back to Denver where his heart was in the first place," Redman said.

At Friday night's service, Leonard wore a navy suit and orange tie and danced and clapped along with the choir.

He said he had regained his strength. He spoke of overcoming "storms blowing into your life" and of financial and relationship problems.

Leonard mostly avoided social issues and politics during his last tenure in Denver, but on Friday he singled out Colorado's legalization of marijuana as evidence of a "liberal state mentality." He called it a gateway drug that "opens up your mind to the demonic realm."

"Jesus," he said, "did not turn the water into marijuana."

Leonard was the first white bishop ordained in a loose network of black churches called the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. He said there was no need to call him "bishop" anymore, though.

He urged his former flock to return to the title used back when Heritage Christian Center started: "Pastor D."

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